


Rooftop Letters

by p4ssionfru1t



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hospital, Love Letters, M/M, Music, hospital au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26775424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/p4ssionfru1t/pseuds/p4ssionfru1t
Summary: Hospital Kenhina AU based off of @pringalingles on Instagram
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kozume Kenma
Comments: 15
Kudos: 170





	Rooftop Letters

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! If you’re reading this pringalingles, I just wanted to let you know that you’re a huge inspiration for me and I love your art. I hope you like the fic!

The strings vibrated off his fingers. He could hear the soft tangs in his ears, in his chest, in his body. The music that emanated from the old guitar Kenma had since he was 17 was beautiful in its own sad and elderly way.

It played a familiar tune, one that Kenma had played on his streams many times after getting angry at his game. It was his outlet when he was alone.

He softly sang along to the words, “You are my sunshine...My only sunshine.”

The strings stuck to his fingers a bit, and the guitar didn’t quite fit his body structure, but it didn’t matter. Kenma was lost in the tanging of the old guitar.

Until, that was, his phone rang. He cut off the rest of the song with a single note and looked over at his phone vibrating on the desk beside him. He rolled his eyes, mentally scolding himself for forgetting to put his phone on vibrate during a stream.

He didn’t even have to look at his monitors to know that the live chat was blowing up. His fans were insanely curious as to who the caller could be. They were mostly questioning the rumor about his supposed boyfriend. He didn’t answer, instead choosing to pick up his phone.

Kuroo. What would Kuroo be calling for? He probably knew he was streaming right now, so why was he interrupting?

What on earth was so important that Kuroo had to call him for?

He finally picked up and lifted the phone to his ear. A still voice sat on the other end of the line.

“Yo.” Kenma said, breaking the silence.

“Kenma.” Kuroo’s voice was deeper and more serious than usual, a tone that sent a small shiver down his spine. He waited for what Kuroo said next. “It was a delayed diagnosis.”

Kenma’s eyes widened.

“Malpractice...hah...hahaha. You’re fucking kidding me. Where is he?” Kenma lowered his voice at the car speaker, as the cold air from the AC hit his face. He was driving to the hospital, a route Kenma was all too familiar with now.

“Room 204. I’ll walk you up when you get here-”

“No! Just stay with him until I get there!” Kenma yelled. He swerved and almost hit a stop sign in the process. Kuroo was quiet on the other line.

“Alright. Be safe, Kenma.” He hung up.

And Kenma was left with his worries hanging in the air around him and the roar of his car speeding down the highway.

He could only think of him. He took up his body, his mind, his being. Everything was about him and only him.

He did save his life after all.

Looking up, Kenma watched the blue meld into the yellow horizon in front of him. He felt the chilly wind blowing through his shoulder-length hair, and his fingers held onto the metal railing he was leaning on.

He looked down. Ant-sized people entered and exited the hospital. Blurry cars passed on the street below. Kenma closed his eyes as he felt himself lean farther and farther off the rail until he fell off the edge.

But when he opened his eyes, he was not free-falling. Instead, he could feel a hard tug on his hoodie.

A clenched voice scolded him, “Come on! Help me out here!”

Kenma quickly turned around and held onto the railing, trying not to upset the stranger. As he felt himself being pulled up and over, he tried to get a grip on what was happening. 

He fell on his ass onto the rooftop concrete and got a good look at the strange boy standing over him. He had orange hair that glowed in the sunlight, deep brown eyes the color of milk chocolate, and olive skin. A faded, green jacket sat on his shoulders on top of a plain white shirt tucked into some cargo shorts. He seemed pretty annoying, and from the looks of it, he was very small for his age.

But there was a light in his eyes and a pep in his step that unleashed Kenma’s curiosity.

“Well, I’d better be going.” The boy said abruptly, waved goodbye, and skipped off to the rooftop exit. 

Kenma’s mouth moved before his mind. “Y-You might’ve stopped me today, but what about other days? What will you do then?” 

What was he saying?

The boy stopped in his tracks, and looked like he genuinely was thinking about the answer. It took him a minute, but then he finally turned to Kenma with a smile on his face and said,

“I don’t know.”

Kenma frowned. He was ready to give up on the conversation.

“But,” The boy started, “I’ll do something. I’ll make you see life is worth living!” He broke into a yell at the last part and bounded away. 

He was already gone before Kenma could even do anything. 

The words sunk into Kenma’s mind as he flashed back to the empty road stretching out in front of him. He just hoped he would make it in time to see him. He shook his head at the reminiscent thoughts popping into his mind.

But they just kept flowing in.

\---

The next day, after the ‘incident’ on the roof, Kenma went back to try again. He climbed over the railing and closed his eyes. But those words just kept replaying over and over.

“I’ll make you see life is worth living!” 

“What kind of bullshit response is that?” Kenma mumbled to himself. He looked out at the hospital below him and felt a little nauseous.

Apparently, a good one.

He hopped back over the rail and sat down before hearing a small crumble below him. He lifted his body to check what he sat on, and discovered a small tattered note.

It read: If you try it again, I’ll kill you.

As much as it was meant in a menacing way, it was equally funny. Kenma chuckled at the stupid note. 

All of a sudden, he put a hand to his throat. He hadn’t laughed in months, hell, maybe a year.

Had he really been unhappy for that long? No, it had definitely been longer than that. Kenma stared at the note. The boy popped up in his mind once again.

“I’ll do something.”

Crumpling the note, he chucked it over the railing and walked towards the rooftop exit.

\---

The letters came every single day, and soon, the need to die had been replaced by the need to read the small and cramped writing the boy left on the neatly folded papers. They made him happy, and the thought of him spending his free time writing these notes made him even happier.

Then one day, he didn’t find a letter.

Instead, the orange haired boy was leaning over the railing waiting for him. As soon as he heard Kenma’s footsteps behind him, he turned around and greeted him with a smile. The sunlight lit up his features. Kenma covered his eyes momentarily.

When the brightness settled down, Kenma softly smiled back at him. He motioned to come closer, so he walked up and they leaned on the infamous railing together.

The boy’s name was Hinata, but he told him to call him Shoyo. He liked the name Shoyo.

They talked for a while about anything and everything. A few times they just let the wind do the talking.

In one of those silent moments, Shoyo turned to Kenma and asked him, “Hey, do you want to go get pocky with me?”

Kenma got a little surprised at the outburst, especially considering how loudly he said it. But Kenma felt his heart stop at his small chuckle, the way he stuffed his hands in his pockets and immediately pulled them out to pull at his jacket, and the small bounce in his overly fluffy hair every time he moved. He wondered what it would be like to run his hands through them.

Clearing his thoughts, Kenma agreed, and Shoyo pulled him off the rooftop and out of the hospital to head to the nearest convenience store.

\---

They went to parks in the dead of night, ran through the crowded streets of Tokyo with full Sailor Moon cosplays on, and sometimes, they just sat in each other’s company.

Kenma remembered all of it. Every single one.

Especially the day he told him he was admitted to the hospital.

Kenma remembered his eyes widening and his head whipping around to face Shoyo.

“Wha..?” He said, stricken with worry. He had made a friend, and perhaps something more than that. He didn’t want to lose it so soon.

Shoyo quickly dismissed it. “No no no! It’s nothing serious! They just said that they needed to do some scans!”

Kenma walked over to Shoyo and put his hands on his shoulders. “Shoyo...when did this happen?”

For the first time, Shoyo looked at the ground in embarrassment. “Two weeks ago.” He mumbled, but Kenma heard it loud and clear. He felt his gut twist in a knot.

“Look at me.” Kenma finally said with a firm tone in his voice. Shoyo looked back up at him with teary eyes. Feeling his heart wrench for another time, his voice choked up as he tried to find the words to say.

After a moment, he just pulled him in for a tight hug and gripped his jacket that smelled faintly of air salonpas.

“You can tell me anything. Tell me everything.” His hands wandered up to Shoyo’s face, and he gently pulled his face to look at his. Shoyo sniffed. “I want to know everything there is to know about you.”

Feeling brave, he quickly glanced down at Shoyo’s lips, but decided to brush back his hair and kiss his forehead instead. It was a light peck, but Kenma already regretted it until Shoyo grabbed his face and pulled him in for another kiss. This time on the lips.

He could feel his entire body melt at the touch. His heart raced as he placed his hands around Shoyo’s waist. Shoyo wrapped his arms around Kenma’s neck, and they backed up and hit the rooftop door.

Pulling away, Shoyo looked at Kenma and smiled. He held up his pinky finger, and told him, “I swear everything will be okay.”

Kenma couldn’t help but believe in him. He lifted his pinky finger and wrapped it gently around Shoyo’s.

Suddenly, Shoyo pulled their intertwined hands up to his mouth and kissed them. “Seal it with a kiss!”

Kenma couldn’t help but chuckle at his childishness.

\---

A few days later, Hinata invited him up on the rooftop for a “surprise”, as he put it.

Kenma spent the whole day wondering what it could be. His thoughts wandered all through the possibilities, but it wasn’t until he went up on the roof that he found out what it was.

It was better than he had imagined.

The night sky hung over them, heavy with twinkling stars. Shoyo sat on a thick, wide blanket that sat on the floor of the roof. There was a pillow for Shoyo and a pillow for Kenma. Small fairy lights hung from the railing surrounding the rooftop.

Kenma could feel a surge of happiness as he took in the sight. Though, nothing could compare to the happiness he felt when Shoyo looked at him.

Even in the night time, he found a way to shine.

Pulling Kenma farther onto the roof, Shoyo put on a song from his playlist and started to dance. He taught Kenma the improvised dances he learned during the day. For the slower songs, they clumsily waltzed, and for the upbeat songs, they freestyled and did whatever they wanted.

They spent the rest of the night up on the roof, staring at the stars and sleeping in each other’s arms. A security guard found them the next morning and scolded them when they woke up. 

That was the single-handedly best night of Kenma’s life. All because of him.

Pulling into the hospital, Kenma decided that he would never leave Shoyo’s side after today.

He’d stay with him until the end.

\---

As soon as Kenma entered the room, Kuroo stood up and walked over to him. He started to talk in a low voice to him something about Shoyo’s minor stroke and twenty-four hours, but Kenma’s attention was focused on the boy in the hospital bed. 

That couldn’t be him.

He didn’t naturally glow, his face wasn’t lit up with a smile, and he no longer wore his signature jacket Kenma had grown to love. It was like seeing a completely different person.

Kenma walked over to Shoyo. Kuroo watched them for a moment and then headed out into the hallway to give them some alone time.

He had already given his goodbyes. It was time for Kenma to give his.

“Hey, Kenma.” Shoyo said, faking a smile. Kenma could tell that it wasn’t genuine. His brows were too knit, and his hands were too fidgety. Kenma felt the tears in his eyes, but he kept them to himself and hoped Shoyo wouldn’t notice. 

He had to be brave for him.

“Hey, Sho.” Kenma said, with an equally fake smile as Shoyo’s.

All of a sudden, Shoyo’s mouth deepened into a wide frown and tears spilled over.

“Kenma, I wanted to do so much more with you! I-I wanted to dance on the rooftop again, and--and cosplay Gon with your Killua outfit, and…! And I…” Shoyo sobbed and choked in between sentences. It took Kenma all he had not to break down with him.

As his own tears streamed down his face, he wiped away Shoyo’s with a shaky smile. “I know.” He said, 

Shoyo sniffed and looked at him with teary eyes. Kenma sat down in the bed next to him and pulled the sheets over both of them. As soon as Kenma leaned back, Sho put his head in the crook of his neck and wrapped his arms around his torso.

For what seemed like minutes passing by in a second, they sat in stagnant silence, left alone with their thoughts.

Kenma watched Shoyo breathe. He was still awake, but his breathing seemed to slow down. His eyes were wide open and staring at the blank wall in front of them.

Kenma was about to say something when Shoyo spoke up. “Do you think I’ll see you again?” Kenma continued to stare at the wall. After a moment, he responded.

“I hope so.” Another tear rolled down his cheek. They went into silence again, Shoyo’s breathing still slowing down. Kenma ran his hand through his orange, fluffy hair.

Out of nowhere, Shoyo’s grip on Kenma’s shirt tightened. Kenma stopped playing with his hair. “I’m scared, Kenma…” Shoyo said, his voice shaky.

Kenma looked down at him. To be honest, Kenma was scared, too. Hell, Kenma was terrified. But for Shoyo’s sake, he didn’t admit it.

“It’s okay. I'll be waiting for you on the other side. I’ll make sure I’ll be the first person you wake up to.” Kenma said, even more tears running down his face. 

Shoyo held out his pinky. “You pinky swear?”

Kenma wrapped his pinky in Shoyo’s as if his life depended on it. “Yes. I pinky swear.” He brought it to his lips, and added, “Seal it with a kiss.”

Shoyo took a hold of Kenma’s face and lightly pressed his lips to his. 

Kenma wished he hadn't done that. Now it really felt like goodbye.

As Kenma felt his brows knit and frown deepen, Shoyo said from beside him, “Can you sing to me?”

Kenma gulped and nodded. Shoyo snuggled even deeper into Kenma. 

He cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and started with the first line of the song.

“You are my sunshine…”

“My only sunshine…”

With every line, Kenma sunk deeper into a daze. He couldn’t tell what line he was on, what note he was singing, He was just singing a song.

“You make me happy.”

“When skies are gray…”

Tthe farther he got into the song, the more Shoyo’s breaths slowed.

“You’ll never know dear.”

“How much I-”

A loud beep from the monitor beside the bed blared through Kenma’s head, awaking him from the daze, and sending the sweet melody he was singing just a moment ago into chest wracking sobs as he clung to the limp boy laying in bed next to him.

\---

Kenma rode home with Kuroo that night. Away from the hospital. Away from the memories.

Away from Sho.

Kuroo was the one who had to pry Kenma away when he refused to leave Hinata. As he looked over at Kenma in the passenger seat, he remembered what he had said when he was taking him away.

“He’s just asleep! I need to be there for him when he wakes up!” Kenma yelled.

“You know just as well as I do that he’s not just asleep!” Kuroo had yelled back.

His gaze lingered on the bags underneath Kenma’s eyes and felt nothing but pity for him. They had been friends since they were kids, and he could almost feel the demons eating Kenma up inside.

He didn’t know what to say, but he had to say something. “Kenma…” Kuroo choked out. 

“IT WAS A 90% CHANCE OF SURVIVAL!! KUROO THEY PROMISED HE’D BE FINE!!!” Kenma yelled at the top of his lungs all of a sudden, banging his fists on the glove compartment of Kuroo’s car.

He just sat back and let him.

Soon enough, the banging died down, and Kenma was clutching his hair as tears rolled down his cheek. Kuroo looked straight in front of him to try and avoid looking at Kenma. He knew if he even stole a glance he’d break down, too.

Kenma choked out a small mumble. “They promised…”

Kuroo continued to stare straight ahead.

“I know, Kenma.”

\---

In the first three months, Kenma did nothing but stay locked up in his room and cry until he couldn’t cry anymore. Kuroo had to force him to eat and drink, but he didn’t go outside for anyone or anything.

Kuroo updated Kenma’s social media to let them know what was going on, and a #WeLoveYouKodzuken hashtag was trending on Twitter for a few weeks.

He wasn’t able to do much, but Kuroo managed to keep Kenma alive.

\---

Over the next 6 months, Kenma tried to throw out his guitar and a lot more of his belongings that even remotely reminded him of Hinata. Of course, Kuroo dug all of them out of the trash and stored them in the attic.

Kuroo would sometimes see Kenma walking to the kitchen to get Raisin Bran. He absolutely hated that cereal, but Kuroo liked it, and since it didn’t remind him of Hinata, Kenma ate it.

Kuroo had to throw out the orange juice so Kenma could use the fridge.

\---

Three months later, Kenma started to disappear daily only for a little bit, but Kuroo got curious as to where he was going. One day, when Kenma took the car, he tailed him. A few minutes into the route, Kuroo already knew where they were going. So when Kenma pulled up to the hospital, Kuroo sighed and parked on the opposite side of the parking lot.

He had a faint idea in his mind that he was coming here everyday, but he was still a little shocked by it.

As soon as he saw Kenma exit the building and drive away, he got out of his car and went inside the hospital.

He asked the lady at the front desk about seeing Kenma pass by, and she said she saw him go back towards the stairs.

As he moved to leave, she told him to give him her condolences. Kuroo was slightly shocked by this, but then nodded and headed towards the stairs.

He checked room 204 first, and only found an old guy mumbling about wanting to leave. He quickly apologized and left. 

If he wasn’t in room 204, then there was only one place left to check.

\---

The wind was strong today, and it made Kuroo lose his balance. But he pushed on and searched around the empty roof. 

There was nothing here. If he wasn’t here, then where was he?

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, something flew up into the air. It was thin and big enough to fit in his hand.

It flew over in Kuroo’s direction, so he caught it. But then, even more came his way as the wind blew stronger. He counted 6 up in the air, and tracked all of them down. One almost flew right over the railing.

The wind slowly died down, and Kuroo sat down to open up the little envelopes. They were all signed with a date written in what looked like Kenma’s messy handwriting. He opened up the first one to read the letter inside.

\---

It was a while before Kuroo finally stopped crying. He had read through all 7 letters twice, all seemingly addressed to the same person: Hinata.

He had realized that Kenma was going through an agonizing grief of losing Hinata, but he had never realized how intense those emotions were. How much hatred he had of himself.

Kuroo felt another round of tears spring in his eyes as two lines in the letter stuck out to him.

“I’m still waiting, Shou. I wonder when you’re coming back…”

“It’s cold without you here...I miss you so much, sunshine.”

Kuroo mentally noted to give Kenma a huge hug when he got back home.

\---

Kenma had been going to the hospital for a long time, stacking up the letters in the exact same spot and then going home to write another one. He had gotten used to this routine.

He constantly missed Shoyo, and everytime he thought about him too hard, it triggered a panic attack. They had calmed down, but they still occurred every so often.

And for the past 48 years, Kuroo had been collecting all the letters Kenma wrote, storing them in the attic, and buying him more notebook paper. Of course, Kenma had known he was doing this from the moment he lied about tailing him.

Kenma missed him. He died last year from a heart attack, and ever since then, Kenma’s been living alone in his house. He didn’t even go back to his own house after Shoyo died.

And he had been waiting for this day for 48 long years. He wrote his last note to Shoyo, wobbled over to his bed, and crawled underneath the sheets. 

Clutching the paper tight in his bony hands, he smiled as his breathing slowed and slowed and finally stopped.

\---

Opening his eyes, he stared at a sleeping Hinata beside him. His orange hair was smushed from laying on the pillow, and drool was wet on his lips. Kenma watched his eyes open slowly.

Kenma smiled, and Shoyo smiled back at him.

“Hey, Kenma.”

“Hey, Sho.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> If you’d like to make something related to the fic, tag me on instagram (@passionfruit651) Thanks again!


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